Hublot has just announced its collaboration with Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, to create two watches for the Shawn Carter Collection.

The result of the partnership between the entertainment entrepreneur and Hublot are the Shawn Carter by Hublot timepieces. Simple and almost formal, both use the same 45 mm Classic Fusion case. Though large, the Jay-Z watches have the simplistic but slim and skeletonised 2.9 mm Classico hand-wind movement inside. Resembling a cross between a Maltese cross and a maple leaf, the Shawn Carter Collection logo, is open-worked, forming the only decoration on the dial.

Unusually, besides the usual black ceramic, the Shawn Carter by Hublot is also available in 3N yellow gold, a striking departure from fashionable rose gold. In fact, this is the first time Hublot is using this alloy in a watch and if Hublot is on to it, yellow gold is surely back in vogue. Priced at US$17,900, the black ceramic watch is limited to 250 pieces. And the yellow gold is limited to 100 with a price of US$33,900.

These watches will be available at Barneys New York, as part of Jay-Z’s winter holiday collaboration with the store, as well as Hublot boutiques. A quarter of all sales from the Barneys project will go to Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, which caters to less fortunate post-secondary students. – SJX